These include the M4 East through the inner west, another M5 tunnel in the south and a tollway between the F3 and M2 motorways in the north.

A draft version of the plan was to have been finished in June. But a version of the document began circulating this week to officials in Treasury, Infrastructure NSW, Transport for NSW and other key government departments.

Advertisement

Sources said the plan offered scant detail on how much the projects would cost, where the money would come from, and when work would start and finish.

The reticence reflects longstanding concerns among policymakers about the implications, including for the state's credit rating, of solid commitments to big transport projects.

One of the more striking initiatives in the plan, which runs to more than 300 pages, is the revival of the M6 or F6 motorway corridor. The corridor was set aside for a motorway in the 1951 County of Cumberland planning scheme, and most of it has since been used for parks and recreation spaces.

Starting in Tempe, it traverses four council areas - Sydney, Marrickville, Rockdale and Sutherland - and runs for the most part between Rocky Point Road and the Grand Parade.

In September 2002 the then transport minister, Carl Scully, abandoned long-held plans to use the corridor for a motorway.

Instead, Mr Scully proposed a mix of public transport options, including heavy rail, light rail and dedicated bus lanes, but did not commit money for any of them.

A later roads minister, Michael Costa, revived the idea of an F6 motorway in 2005, but again without any funding.

The NRMA, which has lobbied aggressively for the project, said last year an F6 from Waterfall to the central business district would cost about $10 billion.

Part of the reason for the size of the price tag is that the southern section of the corridor would need to be a tunnel as it cuts through the Royal National Park.

The release of the draft transport master plan, prepared by Transport for NSW, comes amid confusion inside and outside the government about how transport projects will be prioritised.

The plan of the Transport Minister, Gladys Berejiklian, will also include a second rail crossing for Sydney Harbour, to run in a tunnel between St Leonards and Redfern.

But a separate plan, the State Infrastructure Strategy to be delivered by Infrastructure NSW, chaired by the former premier Nick Greiner, will also be handed to the government this month.

The Infrastructure NSW strategy gives priority to motorways over the rail crossing.

The head of Ms Berejiklian's department, Les Wielinga, has already quit the board of Infrastructure NSW because of this division.

Last week Ms Berejiklian said her plan had taken ''a little bit longer than we had assumed'' because so many people had written submissions to it.

''Everybody who has put something in to us will get feedback,'' she said.

A spokeswoman for the government said yesterday: ''The release of the draft long-term transport master plan is imminent. Once it is released we will be seeking further input from the public and industry before settling on a final plan at the end of the year.''